Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Squad sharpshooting

ECB hosted the Irish squad training camp this weekend and it proved to be a resounding success.It was great fun and there was some superb lifting. I got some footage of the lifting but only from my group on the first day. Everyone lifted well and the camp was very well organised by Wayne Healy. Here is a video of some of the top lifts from my group:

EDIT: After watching the video, I realised I put in Sami's miss with 106 not his success. I must be sub-conscious jealousy.


As for my own lifting, I did ok. On the Saturday morning I did a little wake up session forty five minutes before everyone started. I worked up to a Power Snatch with 90kg and a full Snatch with 100kg and I left it there. In retrospect I should have stopped at 90 but it did not make much of a difference; I felt strong but not particularly fast.

In the full session with my group I worked up to singles in the Snatch with 110, 115 and then I sailed to of 120 and only pulled it. A bit embarrassing. I dropped back to 100 and then hit 107.5 and promptly missed 112.5. It simply was not there so I left it. I was feeling a little tight and not as fast as I would have hoped, but 115 is the most I have Snatched in training in a year, so I am happy enough. If I can hit 115 or so in training then I now I can hit over 120 in competition. In the Clean and Jerk I was tired, but all felt fine. I worked up to 137.5kg and then for some reason, I could not Clean 142.5kg. Very frustrating and for the first time in quite a while, I threw a bit of a wobbler on the platform. On reflection, I put too much pressure on myself and I was also not in the state needed for record weights. Unreasonable expectations and fatigue are not ideal bedfellows. I finished my session with a single with 180kg in the Box Squat and I left it there. I got an awesome massage and followed this with a stretch so that I would be ok to lift the following day.

On Sunday, I was far more relaxed and I Snatched 110kg well. I missed 113 twice and I did not mind really, because, as Wayne correctly pointed out, I was "not going after it." I worked up to 130 in the Clean and Jerk and I could feel I was drained, but for pride's sake, I had to hit 135kg. An embarrasingly small weight to psyche oneself over, but it is what it is. I wanted to get a squat pb so I worked up to 160 and I got 5 reps with it on the 14 inch box.

When I got home on the Sunday, my entire back, legs and hamstrings in particular, traps, shoulders and abs were really feeling the exertion. I felt like I used to feel after a rugby match: battered and bruised. I was happy enough that a sub-par performance could yield 115/137.5 but a few issues were highlighted and I will write about these later when I have had some time to think about them. Everyone lifted particularly well, but I have to mention Sami for his Snatch pb. It was a brave lift considering he was as tired as I was; I just did not have his mental strength!

Source: http://weightliftingepiphanies.blogspot.com/2011/03/squad-sharpshooting.html

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After 15-year absence, Janet Evans returns to pool, eyes Olympics

In her first competitive race in 15 years, Janet Evans picked up where she left off.

The 39-year-old set two age-group world records in her return to the pool this weekend, shattering marks in her former marquee events, the 400 and 800 freestyle. Evans, who won four gold medals during her decorated swimming career, hadn't raced since the 1996 Olympics.

Her time in the 800, the event in which she held the world record for 20 years, was 122nd fastest in the world this year, four seconds slower than�the time standard for August's U.S. championships and nine seconds off an Olympic trials cut. The 8:59.06 broke the old world record in the 35-39 age group by more than 10 seconds. Her time in the 400 also set the record for the age group.

Evans' stroke didn't change much over the years, she still has that unorthodox head bob and straight left arm.�Her smile didn't change either, as the California native looks very much like the grinning teenager who captured the attention of the country during the 1988 Olympics.

There's no comparison for what she is doing, no bar for where a mother of two who last swam when Ross Perot was a presidential candidate should be after six months of training in an unexpected comeback. Touching the wall in respectable times near national cuts is an encouraging beginning, though. (Especially considering she�swam the 800 in an empty pool without any competition.)

Her ultimate goal is to make the Olympics. Evans' age, her time out of the pool and the fact that long-distance swimming traditionally favors younger racers are but a few of the reasons why that dream should prove impossible.�It's unheard of for any athlete to take a 15-year layoff and return in good form, particularly in a sport where being old enough to rent a car practically qualifies you for AARP benefits.

The world's fastest time this year in the 800-meter freestyle was turned in by a 19-year-old. Only eight of the women in the top 150 in the world are older than 25. And then there's the soon-to-be 40-year-old Janet Evans, who started training after Christmas and is posting respectable times while shaking off a decade-and-a-half of rust. Her quest is all but certain to end short of London, but there's a distinct feeling that by the time Janet Evans hangs up her suit again, she'll have let the kids know that the old lady still had something left in the tank.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/After-15-year-absence-Janet-Evans-returns-to-po?urn=oly-wp324

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Two Weeks 'til the Shamrock Shuffle! Please help us fund this film.

We have only two weeks to raise $900 for our Shamrock Shuffle 8K shoot on 4/10. This is the kick-off to the running season here in Chicago, with an estimated 35,000 runners. Most of our film's ladies will be competing, along with a list of some of the Midwest's top female distance runners. Will you please help us by donating to our film fund? If everyone who visits this blog donates $5-10, we'd raise enough to cover the Shamrock Shuffle and Eugene Marathon on 5/1 (where Christina Overbeck will be going for her Trials qualifier!) You can help by clicking on the Donate link on the upper-right hand side of this page. Thanks!

� 2010 Brian Kieffer

Source: http://milesandtrialsfilm.blogspot.com/2011/03/27-days-til-shamrock-shuffle-and-start.html

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Abadjiev's attitudes

Here is the final part to the interview. He was a very nice man and by the end of my visit, had warmed to me and the other Cal Strength guys. When he found out that the interview would be done by interview, he even tidied his hair in the mirror!

Source: http://weightliftingepiphanies.blogspot.com/2011/07/abadjievs-attitudes.html

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World's athletes dreaming of London 2012

Over the last year it has been a real privilege to follow the journey of 26 athletes hoping to come to London to compete at next year's Games. Each story is unique, as is each athlete's prospects for next summer. Some will play a small part in their event, some will become Olympic champions but some will fail even to qualify.

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The World Olympic Dreams series has taken me to places I never imagined I would end up - Iraq and Afghanistan come to mind. Here are a few of my highlights so far:

Haider Rashid and Hamza Hussein - rowers from Iraq

Iraqi rowers Haider Rashid and Hamza Hussein are based on the Tigris river in Baghdad. They embody the Olympic spirit - they will make up a significant portion of the Iraq team should they qualify and yet they have very little chance of a medal. As I found out when I visited them last year, Haider and Hamza's recollections of having to row among floating corpses are arresting.

Jehue Gordon - 400m hurdler from Trinidad and Tobago

We met Jehue Gordon in Port of Spain at carnival time. He was not tempted by the partying, preferring to put in the hours on the track. Jehue often told us how grateful he was of our attention. Apparently, we were taking more interest in him than his local media were. They should buck up - he was fourth in the world at 18 and he is getting faster all the time. London 2012 may not be his time for gold but he is definitely one to keep an eye on over the next few years.

Usain Bolt - 100m sprinter from Jamaica

Usain Bolt is a global superstar and there isn't much left to say about him that has not been said countless times before - the world record times, the 'Lightning Bolt' dance and, of course, those chicken nuggets. We decided to take a look at what turned Bolt the boy into Bolt the fastest man on the planet - by hearing from his former sports teacher.

Rohullah Nikpai - taekwondo fighter from Afghanistan

I hadn't heard of Rohullah Nikpai before World Olympic Dreams. Shame on me. Rohullah, the taekwondo fighter, is a national icon in Afghanistan and is feeling a lot of pressure to repeat his 2008 bronze medal display. Now, more than ever, his country needs him.

Merlin Diamond and Achieng Ajulu-Bushell - sprinter from Namibia and swimmer from Great Britain

The joint travails of Merlin Diamond and Achieng Ajulu-Bushell. They don't know each other but both are in a similar pre-Games dilemma. Press forward with training for the Olympics or focus on school and a future career? It is difficult to watch them in such a tight spot.

Majlinda Kelmendi - judoka from Kosovo

Majlinda Kelmendi, a judoka from Kosovo will almost certainly have to fight under the flag of some country other than her own. Alternatively, she could represent the International Olympic Committee (IOC) itself. Kosovo is not recognised by the IOC and probably won't be before the Games start. As we found out, if Majlinda wins a medal she won't be able to see Kosovo's flag on the pole. Nevertheless, Kosovo knows that she is a local hero.

Luol Deng - basketball player from Great Britain

Luol Deng is a massive British star you may not have heard of. He is one of the highest paid stars of America's NBA basketball league. He might be a superstar but sitting safe, rich and happy in Chicago was not really on his agenda. Luol Deng's trip to Sudan was a privilege to air. He had not seen the country from which he and his parents fled since he was a very young child. To see him go back, partly to fund a new start for some of Sudan's next generation, was awe-inspiring.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/matthewpinsent/2011/07/worlds_athletes_look_forward_t.html

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11 Global Interview Sardinia 2011

After, getting my Laptop back from a hire car, I had a great interview with Ryan Landy from 11 Global Triathlon series.. This new event has now make 11 Global, 5 events strong, and the Non-Draft Olympic distance races he is hosting will only grow in number till 11 are achieved! For more on 11 [...]

Source: http://richardmurray.wordpress.com/2011/06/03/11-global-interview-sardinia-2011/

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The BMX Track - London 2012


The BMX Track, originally uploaded by catfordCelt.

Source: http://insidelondon2012.blogspot.com/2011/08/bmx-track-london-2012.html

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An Eastern Recap

Even though it’s from our friends at NENSA in New England, this is a nice overall recap on the week. http://www.nensa.net/news/index.php?id=4700 Note the last line: Next year in 2012, this competition will be officially named “Junior Nationals.”

Source: http://www.farwestnordic.org/joblog/2011/03/an-eastern-recap/

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Saturday's seasoning

I took a break from life in general for a week and did not train for 8 days. Wednesday was my first session back, so I trained then, Thursday and today. I had a great break and it was a novelty waking up and actually feeling refreshed and ready to go. While I was away I did two short sessions with some hill sprints and I did yoga four or five times which kept me feeling relatively loose. All in all, I felt fantastic on Wednesday.

The slight issue with all this, of course, is that I have the Senior National Championships this day week. This means that I need to find the delicate balance of being competition sharp with the lifts, with being rested and strong. This week's training was very important in order to find that balance.

In training on Wednesday, my body was practically asleep and this session was more of a tune up for Thursday and Saturday. I ended up Snatching up to 105kg in an extremely shoddy manner. I missed the return leg with the weight. Embarrassing, yes; but my system was not exactly firing on all cylinders and my back was as stiff as a board because my flight home was delayed the previous day and I spent an awful lot of time in the airport and on a plane. Wayne had me Power Clean and Jerk instead of full Clean because my legs were still asleep and I enjoyed them. I ended up with 117.5kg and brought 120 to parallel so it was a no man's land Clean. Embarrassing again, but understandable. I also Front Squatted 150 for a double and then two singles which felt good.

The following day I trained in Morton Stadium in Santry with Shane McQuillan, Sami, Byrdie, Killer and Cedric Unholz, who came over for a few days to train. Cedric is a strength and conditioning coach based in Edinburgh and took up weightlifting in February. It was nice training with someone who is a knowledgeable coach in their own right . It was also nice training in a different environment and everyone enjoyed it. I had spent the day in the sun showing Cedric around Dublin and neither of us were in good nick to train really. My back was very stiff, but I ended up Snatching 111kg despite it. My positioning was awful because I was so tight and stiff, but I just got on with it and focused more on finishing the pull. As you will see in the video below, there was a while lot of pulling with the arms, but c'est la vie. You just have to get on with it.



I then Clean and Jerked up to 132 and missed the Clean with 137. Annoying, but again, you have to accept it. My lifting was feeling very out of sync in both the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk. I then Back Squatted regularly for the first time in many months. I hit a very easy 160 and missed 170 which was very surprising. I lost my position on the way down and I will attribute that a stiff and tight back. Hopefully that is all it is. Hopefully...

I then trained today and I felt pretty tired with a hectic last few days. Cedric had treated my back the previous evening and he really knows his stuff; he is qualified in KMI treatment. I Snatched up to 100kg but I was feeling off, so I went back down and worked up in a second wave, hitting 108 and then missed 112 very narrowly twice. I was going to do a third wave and went up to 90, but I left it there because I was feeling pretty rough. I Clean and Jerked then and the rot continued. I actually missed a Clean with 127 and 130 which was bizarre. Oleg was there and he gave me the required slap around and I then hit 134, 136 and then 140 which is shown below. This showed me again how weightlifting can expose a weak mind, so thankfully Oleg was able to help me snap out of it.



I finished up with some Front Squats and worked up to an easy 150 and inexplicably missed 160 despite getting past the sticking point. I went back down to 150 again and then 158, but missed that too. Frustrating, yes it most certainly is. I have to get on with it an keep squatting I suppose. As I said earlier, I have Nationals this day week and I will train twice. Wayne will let me know what I need to do and I will make sure that I recover as much as I can and that I am nice and loose. Cedric lifted well and we really worked on his overhead position in the Snatch and turning a passive catch into an active one. He is a good athlete and I know he will progress well.

Source: http://weightliftingepiphanies.blogspot.com/2011/04/saturdays-seasoning.html

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Two Weeks 'til the Shamrock Shuffle! Please help us fund this film.

We have only two weeks to raise $900 for our Shamrock Shuffle 8K shoot on 4/10. This is the kick-off to the running season here in Chicago, with an estimated 35,000 runners. Most of our film's ladies will be competing, along with a list of some of the Midwest's top female distance runners. Will you please help us by donating to our film fund? If everyone who visits this blog donates $5-10, we'd raise enough to cover the Shamrock Shuffle and Eugene Marathon on 5/1 (where Christina Overbeck will be going for her Trials qualifier!) You can help by clicking on the Donate link on the upper-right hand side of this page. Thanks!

� 2010 Brian Kieffer

Source: http://milesandtrialsfilm.blogspot.com/2011/03/27-days-til-shamrock-shuffle-and-start.html

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11 Global Interview Sardinia 2011

After, getting my Laptop back from a hire car, I had a great interview with Ryan Landy from 11 Global Triathlon series.. This new event has now make 11 Global, 5 events strong, and the Non-Draft Olympic distance races he is hosting will only grow in number till 11 are achieved! For more on 11 [...]

Source: http://richardmurray.wordpress.com/2011/06/03/11-global-interview-sardinia-2011/

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4th of July.

It was only right that we train, and train hard. In fact, it was only right that we take a day when most other people are off work, when many of our competitors are resting, to devote the entire day to training and recovery. Here are the boys, after the second workout…

Source: http://calstrengthacademy.com/olympic-weightlifting-team/4th-of-july/

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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Ando edges Kim for world figure skating title, Czisny takes fifth

Miki Ando won one for Japan at the world figure skating championships on Saturday in Moscow, taking the women's gold medal with two elegant skates. Olympic champion Yu-Na Kim from Korea took second, competing in her first event of the season, followed by Italian Carolina Kostner at third. Americans missed the podium, with Alissa Czisny taking fifth and Rachael Flatt finishing 14th.

Ando skated first in the final group. Her free skate was not as flawless as her short program, stepping out on a double Axel-double toe jump combo, but she stayed upright and had the difficulty to win it all. Kim turned two planned triple jumps into singles, losing her a ton of points along the way. With clean triples, she would have won the championship. (Watch Ando's free skate here.)

This win is particularly sweet for Ando and Japan, who was slated to host the world championships before the earthquake and tsunami hit. It is her second world title, and the cap of a golden year that includes wins at the Four Continents championships, Japanese championships -- where she beat the previous world champion, Mao Asada -- the Cup of China and the Cup of Russia.

Kostner, who is known for falling at big, international competitions, stayed on her feet and finished an elegant skate in third place, less than a point in front of Russian jumping sensation Alena Leonova. Fellow Russian Ksenia Makarova had a shot to knock Kostner out, but mental errors cost her. One of her jumps was downgrade for not completing her rotation, while another didn't count at all because she had repeated the same element. Add to that a fall, and she landed in seventh place.

Czisny also skated in the final group with a chance to unseat the Ando/Kim juggernaut. A fall on her first jump prevented that, but in years past, Czisny would have fallen apart after a mistake like that. This year, she moved on and completed a beautiful skate with strong combinations and breathtaking spins. (Watch Czisny's skate here.)

"I'm so glad I was able to come back and fight and make a name for myself this season," Czisny said.

Flatt's free skate, on the other hand, was a disaster. She singled two jumps that were supposed to be triples, and looked shaky throughout. Afterwards, she revealed that she was skating with a stress fracture in her right leg.

"I was in a lot of pain. That was not too much fun," Flatt said.

Though it Flatt's decision to skate through the injury could be viewed as courageous, it may have hurt the U.S. Spots in the next world championship are dictated by the country's finish in this one. With Czisny earning fifth, Flatt would have needed an eighth or better to earn the U.S. three berths to worlds. She took fifth in 2009 and seventh in the Olympics, so a healthy Flatt could have done it.

Now, the U.S. has to sit and wonder what might have been if they had sent a healthy skater, like Mirai Nagasu or Agnes Zawadzki, to the world championships.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Ando-edges-Kim-for-world-figure-skating-title-C?urn=oly-wp175

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I will come back stronger at London 2012 Olympics, says Jessica Ennis

Jessica Ennis said she felt “devastated” when she realised she had lost her world championship title in a heptathlon that she described “one of the toughest I’ve had”. But by the end of the day she had already found a silver lining to go with her silver medal. “If it was any year then it [...]

Source: http://london-2012-olympics.net/News/i-will-come-back-stronger-at-london-2012-olympics-says-jessica-ennis/

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DONE!

What a long day after a very difficult, long, but rewarding week in Minnesota! Up at 4:15 am (which was actually 3:15 after the time change), to the airport and home to Truckee. I almost didn’t bother going skiing, seeing 40 degree temperatures and rain/snow/clouds. But then…. Even though the snow was as smushy as [...]

Source: http://www.farwestnordic.org/joblog/2011/03/done/

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Live from London, it?s the 2012 Summer Olympics on NBC

Sports fans who can't wait until NBC's tape-delayed primetime coverage to see if Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt will be able to win Olympic gold won't have to anymore. NBC announced Tuesday that every event from next summer's London Olympics will be aired live on television or streaming over the Internet.

It's a major reversal from NBC's prior policy of withholding live events from the West Coast and airing many others on tape delay throughout all time zones. For years the network has angered fans across the country by refusing to air events until the start of its 8 p.m. coverage window. For the last summer Olympics in Beijing, this meant sitting on footage of Usain Bolt's record-breaking runs for as long as 15 hours.

NBC hasn't announced how it will air the events. A mix of streaming Internet coverage and use of NBC's cable networks is expected. The primetime telecast on NBC will likely feature the same mix of event coverage, human interest stories and Bob Costas.

The biggest winner in the deal are viewers on the West Coast who were routinely shut out of live coverage that was beamed to the East. NBC was instrumental in getting the IOC to contest swimming finals in the morning from Beijing so the races could be shown live in the United States. But while viewers in the East were watching Michael Phelps make Olympic history in real time, West Coast watchers were stuck waiting three hours for primetime coverage to begin.�With the new policy, Olympic fans across the country will see everything as it happens if they so desire.

It's an especially important announcement for the upcoming Olympics because of the time difference between London and the United States. London is five hours ahead of New York, meaning that most marquee events like Phelps' and Bolt's races will take place in the late afternoon stateside. Without live streaming, all U.S. fans would have had to wait a minimum of three hours to see the competitions.

Welcome to the 21st century, NBC. It was a long time coming. Time will tell whether this has a positive effect on the network's bottom line. Primetime numbers may dip slightly for the main network but the benefit for NBC's cable channels, which will now be picked up by most cable companies, could make up the difference.

For fans, it's the best news possible. No more avoiding results all day. No more looking for pirated European feeds on the Internet. The Olympics will be live.

Finally.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Live-from-London-it-s-the-2012-Summer-Olympics-?urn=oly-wp631

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Watch the race Michael Phelps called the worst of his career

Michael Phelps recently told Fourth-Place Medal that the biggest disappointment of his swimming career was losing the 200 fly in Ann Arbor this April. The loss was Phelps' first in the event since 2002.

We hadn't seen a clip of the race until our friends at Universal Sports sent it over today:

The final turn is all the proof you need that Phelps isn't in top shape. His timing was off as he went into the turn, which forced an extended glide to the wall. Once there, Phelps holds a beat too long, allowing competitors to his left to make up ground. Bad turns happen though. For Michael Phelps, bad underwaters don't.

Phelps came up on his streamline before every swimmer in the pool, an event which is sort of like Tiger Woods finishing last in the week in driving distance. The third turn is where Phelps plunges the dagger into his opponents. He holds it longer and goes faster and comes up farther than everybody else in the pool. In Ann Arbor, Phelps didn't do any of that.

The reason? He's not in shape. The 200 fly is one of the most taxing races in swimming. Even the best in the world feel their muscles burn when they get to the third turn. Your lungs are screaming for air, lactic acid is burning through your muscles; the hardest thing to do is to hold that streamline for any considerable amount of time and to finish strong. When you're not in peak physical form, it's impossible.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Watch-the-race-Michael-Phelps-called-the-worst-o?urn=oly-wp231

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Mark Cavendish, Britain's best athlete?

Mark Cavendish is David Beckham big in Belgium. In fact, he isn't David Beckham, he is Mark Cavendish. And not just in Belgium, but also France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain... pretty much everywhere they love cycling. The Isle of Man, too. Definitely there.

In the rest of Britain? Not so much. But I think we will get there.

After all, we say rower Sir Steve Redgrave is our greatest Olympian, we went nuts for curling a few years ago and track cyclist Sir Chris Hoy, another minority sport knight of the realm, sold breakfast cereal thanks to his pedalling antics.

So we love winners - and Cav is definitely that.

His victory in Sunday's final stage of the Tour de France was his third straight win on the Champs Elysees. Nobody else has even won it back-to-back.

It was also his fifth stage win in this year's race and his 20th Tour success overall, good enough for sixth on the all-time list, only two behind Lance Armstrong's tally and 14 off the legendary Eddy Merckx's record. Cavendish is still only 26.

This year, there was something different about Cavendish's glorious gallop up one of the most famous streets in the world - he did it in green. That's the colour worn by the leader in the Tour's points competition, which is the race's most consistent high-finisher. Typically, the wearer of the green jersey is the best sprinter in the field.

Cavendish's previous victories in Paris were spectacular but they were also slightly Pyrrhic. Another man was in green and the Cav-alry charge came too late to take it off them. There was an element of controversy on both occasions, a hint of misfortune and perhaps even questions about the Manxman's strategy for success.

But, of course, there is no changing the past, let alone Cavendish.

With a slightly different scoring system, this year was different, although the man himself, so he told us, was exactly the same.

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In truth, this was only half right. Cavendish is still utterly focused on crossing the line first. That is what gets people out of their chairs at home. It is what people remember. He has lost nothing of his bravery and keen sense of timing either.

But he is also slightly lighter than he has been. A compromise with his body has been reached. A few pounds of fast-twitch muscle have been sacrificed in order to help him get over the mountain passes slightly easier.

This has kept him in the bunch for longer on non-sprint days, enabling him to pick up points for the intermediate sprints he used to ignore.

After making his now customary slow start to the season (remember, this guy is a superstar, so it is all relative), he was moving comfortably through the gears by the time he took two stage wins in three days at the Giro d'Italia.

You don't keep doing this, however, without attracting the attention of every other would-be winner in the peloton. Cavendish is the most marked man in professional cycling.

So when he got boxed in and missed his chance in the Tour's first bunch sprint, those questions were asked again. We did not have to wait long for the answer.

As well as winning the 21st and final stage, he also snaffled the sprints in the fifth, seventh, 11th and 15th stages. This degree of domination is unprecedented in recent cycling history.

I managed to catch a few words with British cyclist David Millar after the teams had completed their laps of honour. He was clutching a plastic glass of champagne and generally looking like a man who didn't have to ride his bike again tomorrow.

So just how good is Cav? I asked.

"He is Britain's best athlete right now and probably the best sprinter in the history of cycling," the 34-year-old veteran said.

"I know it's always a big claim when you start calling people the best ever but he is that good and it is a shame that people at home don't quite realise that yet."

I have already written about why this might be but I was heartened by the number of British fans I saw amongst the estimated 250,000-strong crowd in Paris, all vying for a vantage point along the barriers. Cavendish is catching on.

Moments after I left Millar to make his plans for a mighty rehydration session this evening, Cavendish swung around the corner, a three-legged Isle of Man flag and Union Jack wound around his neck.

Immediately, there was a rush of autograph-hunters, phone-snappers and well-wishers towards the man in green but he stopped for a quick chat and patiently signed everything that was thrust under his nose.

As per usual with this apparently most individual of talents, he was quick to praise the "incredible guys" in his team and thank them for "finally" helping him to the prize he wanted most.

He admitted the new scoring system, with its emphasis on stage wins, had helped but denied there was any hint of panic on his part when he was forced to change his bike with 30km to go on the final stage.

He rode effortlessly back to the field, efficiently through it and, well, we saw the rest.

But unlike Millar, whose other half is expecting a baby very soon, Cavendish's season is not over. For him, there will only be moderate celebrations given that there are World Championships to prepare for.

Victory in Copenhagen in September, on a course seemly designed with Cavendish in mind, would further enhance his standing and bring even more recognition.

He may not get a personal call from the prime minister to discuss the suitability of calling a national holiday, as Australian yellow-jersey winner Cadel Evans got from Julia Gillard, but Cavendish might start to get some of that Belgian love back home. He has earned it.

As well as my blogs, you can follow me when I'm out and about at http://twitter.com/bbc_matt

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/mattslater/2011/07/mark_cavendish_is_david_beckha.html

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New Video

As we near the 26th running of the Honda LA Marathon presented by K-Swiss, I’m deep into the process of creating video content. We use these pieces a number of ways: On our Youtube channel; to promote our live broadcast on KTLA; and as components within that broadcast. I’m shooting a number of great stories [...]

Source: http://www.lamarathon.com/2011/03/new-video/

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Olympic Security ? Knives, bombs and the Welsh Dragon

Queuing up to pass through one of the many security check points at the Olympics on one occasion there was a recording being played over the PA system: ?Flags of non-participating countries and regions, and sharp objects are not permitted into the Olympic Green?. At first this seemed like a strange combination ? why should [...]

Source: http://beijingolympicsblog.wordpress.com/2008/08/26/olympic-security-%e2%80%93-knives-bombs-and-the-welsh-dragon/

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Where?s the TIME go?

Well, I had INTENDED to post regularly to the blog. Thank goodness for Mr. Z and his prolific posting! And props to Filly for finally chiming in on the upper-classmen level. The amount of free time coaches have is pretty minimal, and then when I add in photo organizing and other computer tasks, it seems [...]

Source: http://www.farwestnordic.org/joblog/2011/03/wheres-the-time-go/

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London will unite the world next year in truly exceptional and inspiring Games

I was in London this week along with representatives from around 200 National Olympic Committees for the ?Chefs de Mission? seminar to get an update from the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) on progress leading up to the Games.

http://www.london2012.com/Samar Nassar 440x220

Source: http://www.london2012.com//blog/2011/08/london-will-unite-the-world-next-year-in-truly-exception.php

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Getting Olympic Tickets in Beijing

Much has been made of the scarcity of tickets in Beijing and yet in the first week there was a pandemic of half-empty stadia spreading the city. The government have been publicising their active work to shut down ticket touts and prevent illegal re-sale of official tickets. However, this is typical PR and bluff promoted [...]

Source: http://beijingolympicsblog.wordpress.com/2008/08/22/getting-olympic-tickets-in-beijing/

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Monday, August 29, 2011

Relaxed Press Freedoms Pass With The Beijing Games

Put in place prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and due to end roughly a month after the Paralympics, the measures to afford greater independence to foreign reporters in China are about three weeks from ending. Now there is speculation about whether these freedoms will continue at all, or whether the rules will return to [...]

Source: http://beijingolympicsblog.wordpress.com/2008/09/22/relaxed-press-freedoms-pass-with-the-beijing-games/

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Changes

Cyclists find their access blocked.

Hackney East Marsh Closed until September 2013, to make way for the Northern Transport Spectators Mall.

Then it will be returned to High Quality Pitches in time for the 2013 football season

Source: http://insidelondon2012.blogspot.com/2011/07/changes.html

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Olympic Park from the View Tube on a wet August Day

Serves Lovely Coffee's though !

Source: http://insidelondon2012.blogspot.com/2011/08/olympic-park-from-view-tube-on-wet.html

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Ando edges Kim for world figure skating title, Czisny takes fifth

Miki Ando won one for Japan at the world figure skating championships on Saturday in Moscow, taking the women's gold medal with two elegant skates. Olympic champion Yu-Na Kim from Korea took second, competing in her first event of the season, followed by Italian Carolina Kostner at third. Americans missed the podium, with Alissa Czisny taking fifth and Rachael Flatt finishing 14th.

Ando skated first in the final group. Her free skate was not as flawless as her short program, stepping out on a double Axel-double toe jump combo, but she stayed upright and had the difficulty to win it all. Kim turned two planned triple jumps into singles, losing her a ton of points along the way. With clean triples, she would have won the championship. (Watch Ando's free skate here.)

This win is particularly sweet for Ando and Japan, who was slated to host the world championships before the earthquake and tsunami hit. It is her second world title, and the cap of a golden year that includes wins at the Four Continents championships, Japanese championships -- where she beat the previous world champion, Mao Asada -- the Cup of China and the Cup of Russia.

Kostner, who is known for falling at big, international competitions, stayed on her feet and finished an elegant skate in third place, less than a point in front of Russian jumping sensation Alena Leonova. Fellow Russian Ksenia Makarova had a shot to knock Kostner out, but mental errors cost her. One of her jumps was downgrade for not completing her rotation, while another didn't count at all because she had repeated the same element. Add to that a fall, and she landed in seventh place.

Czisny also skated in the final group with a chance to unseat the Ando/Kim juggernaut. A fall on her first jump prevented that, but in years past, Czisny would have fallen apart after a mistake like that. This year, she moved on and completed a beautiful skate with strong combinations and breathtaking spins. (Watch Czisny's skate here.)

"I'm so glad I was able to come back and fight and make a name for myself this season," Czisny said.

Flatt's free skate, on the other hand, was a disaster. She singled two jumps that were supposed to be triples, and looked shaky throughout. Afterwards, she revealed that she was skating with a stress fracture in her right leg.

"I was in a lot of pain. That was not too much fun," Flatt said.

Though it Flatt's decision to skate through the injury could be viewed as courageous, it may have hurt the U.S. Spots in the next world championship are dictated by the country's finish in this one. With Czisny earning fifth, Flatt would have needed an eighth or better to earn the U.S. three berths to worlds. She took fifth in 2009 and seventh in the Olympics, so a healthy Flatt could have done it.

Now, the U.S. has to sit and wonder what might have been if they had sent a healthy skater, like Mirai Nagasu or Agnes Zawadzki, to the world championships.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Ando-edges-Kim-for-world-figure-skating-title-C?urn=oly-wp175

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Chan and his quad in lead after short program at Worlds

After a record-breaking performance in the short program, Canada's Patrick Chan is in the lead of the men's World Figure Skating Championships, more than 11 points ahead of Japan's Nobunari Oda, Chan's closest competitor. Chan's performance garnered a 93.02, smashing the 91.3 held by Russian Evgeni Plushenko, who looked on as Chan dazzled the crowd in Russia with a quadruple-jump combination.

Japanese skater Daisuke Takahashi is in third place, followed by Arthur Gachinski (Russia) and Florent Amodio (France). Americans Richard Dornbush, Ryan Bradley and Ross Miner are in 11th, 12th and 13th, respectively.

Chan hit the quadruple toe-triple toe combination early in his program, an instant boost to his confidence. His next jumps, a triple Axel and a triple flip, were easy after he had completed the quad.

In previous years, skaters weren't willing to try quadruple jumps because there wasn't enough of a upside to the risk. Now, the rules have been tweaked to reward a skater for trying the quad. Chan had struggled with the jump until he made a small tweak in practice. Now, he's so at ease with it that he plans to do two quad jumps in the free program, despite his comfortable lead.

His energetic skate drew loud cheers from the crowd in Moscow, who filled the lower bowl of the stadium despite the last-minute notice. Moscow agreed to host worlds after the event, planned for Tokyo in late March, had to be postponed and moved because of the tsunami and earthquake in Japan.

Several Japanese fans were on-hand to both cheer on Oda and Takahashi and say thank you for the support. They held up signs reading, "We're hanging in there," and "Thank you, world" as their skaters took the ice, but none of skaters lived up to Chan. Oda stepped out of his quad attempt, and Takahashi didn't attempt the jump.

Chan will now try to take home the championship on Friday. With a dynamite program and a big lead, it's his to lose.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Chan-and-his-quad-in-lead-after-short-program-at?urn=oly-wp150

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Relaxed Press Freedoms Pass With The Beijing Games

Put in place prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and due to end roughly a month after the Paralympics, the measures to afford greater independence to foreign reporters in China are about three weeks from ending. Now there is speculation about whether these freedoms will continue at all, or whether the rules will return to [...]

Source: http://beijingolympicsblog.wordpress.com/2008/09/22/relaxed-press-freedoms-pass-with-the-beijing-games/

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Bolt crashes out

Daegu, Korea

Who can beat Usain Bolt? we used to wonder.

Usually the response was "no-one". Only occasionally did someone say Usain Bolt himself. Never was the answer Jorge Salcedo.

Salcedo was the head of the IAAF technical commission that recommended, in August 2009, that the sport's current false-start rule be amended so that the first athlete to jump the gun would instantly be disqualified, rather than receiving a mere initial warning.

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"Everyone will have ample time to change by the time of Daegu," said Lamine Diack, the governing body's president, with the sort of confidence that will now want to make him beat himself over the head with his own 255-page rulebook.

On Sunday morning Usain Bolt was 1/20 with bookmakers to win World 100m gold. It's not just that no-one saw his disqualification a few hours later coming. It's that no-one could even conceive of it.

This was a Buster Douglas moment, with some England 0-1 USA from 1950 thrown in and Don Bradman's final innings duck sprinkled on top.

False starts have seen off defending sprint champions in big finals before. Linford Christie did it twice in the Olympic final of 1996, but he was a champ with his brightest days behind him, not the greatest sprinter the world has ever seen.

Christie used to talk about going on the 'B' of the bang. On Sunday night, Bolt went on the 'O' of OMG.

As the world record holder and Olympic champion went to his blocks at just before 10pm local time he looked into the television cameras, pointed at the lanes to his right and left and shook his head dismissively.

It was classic Bolt, another act in the comedy-drama that has seen him dominate the sporting schedules since that extraordinary night in Beijing's Bird's Nest three summers ago. He crouched as the stadium fell silent, and we all shifted forward in our seats, ready for the performance that we now know so well - an explosion from the blocks, a streak of yellow and black, a glance at the clock and a roar of disbelief and adoration.

 

There was disbelief alright.

The champion didn't just twitch, or rise a fraction too early. He was gone by a stride, no replay nor electronic reading necessary, a Bolt shot so early that the millions watching around the world instantly knew a red card must surely follow.

Bolt is used to producing moments that make spectators grab the person next to them and throw their hands to their mouths in shock. Once again he delivered.

This time there was no clowning, no posing for the photographers waiting by the giant digital timer nest to the finish line. Bolt tore off his vest, staggered into the stadium tunnel and buried his head in the blue netting wall, those same photographers suddenly themselves sprinting the 100m straight in perfect reverse.

There were only two questions falling from everyone's wide-open jaws: how, and why?
The answer to the first can be found on page 127 of the IAAF's 2010-2011 regulations, under rule 162, section six:

"An athlete, after assuming a full and final set position, shall not commence his start until after receiving the report of the gun. If, in the judgement of the Starter or Recallers, he does so any earlier, it shall be deemed a false start."

Underneath sits Salcedo's all-important addition.

"162.7: From 1 January 2010, except in Combined Events, any athlete responsible for a false start shall be disqualified."

The answer to the second was rather harder to uncover.

Bolt didn't need to gamble on a flyer, any more than Bradman needed to try to hit his first ball from Eric Hollies for six. His key rivals, Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell, were both absent through injury. He is so much faster than the men remaining that he could have sat in his blocks and still won by a street. So what happened?

"It was the conscious part of his brain, not the subconscious part, that affected him," says Darren Campbell, World 100m bronze medallist in 2003 and here in Korea as an expert summariser for BBC Radio 5 live.

"The subconscious part of a sprinter's brain simply reacts to the starter's gun. It's the conscious part that would be shouting REACT! REACT! REACT! to him.

"In his semi-final he didn't get out that badly - the rhythm of the start was still there - but he didn't react well to the gun itself. That may have played on his mind.

"Maybe he was worried about the presence of his training partner Yohan Blake outside him, although on times and form he didn't need to.

"Maybe he had seen the false start Dwain Chambers had in the semi, or the one Christine Ohuruogu had on Saturday, and thought, oh, these are the false-start championships. But the starter did not hold them for too long, and it wasn't that noisy in the stadium.

"He only needed 9.91 seconds for the gold. But despite that, he was still thinking, 'I've got to react...'"

As with all shocking crimes, the next thought was to nail a perpetrator. Was it the IAAF's fault for instigating a rule which could allow their golden calf to be despoiled, putting the false gods of television schedules ahead of the integrity of the sport?

Was it Jon Drummond's fault for that infamous sulk at the 2003 Worlds, when he lay down in his lane and refused to leave the track after being disqualified himself? Should we blame the athletes who used to use the preceding rule - one false start allowed, next man to jump the gun is out regardless of his previous blame - as a tactic to unsettle opponents?

Drummond, Salcedo and the rest should be spared. You could blame the rule if you like, but mainly you have to blame Bolt.

"The other guys out there didn't beat Usain," says Campbell. "Usain beat himself."

Former world and Olympic 100m champion Maurice Greene has been warning anyone who would listen in Daegu this week that Bolt's cartoonish antics on the blocks would one day catch up with him.

You can get away with the high jinks if your confidence is rock-solid. When it starts to crumble, when self-doubt starts to nudge the elbow and nibble away at the corners, you cannot.

You want to feel sorry for someone? Maybe feel sorry for Blake, who became the event's youngest ever world champion but will still awake to race reports entirely about someone else.

Maybe feel sorry for Kim Collins, whose achievement in winning bronze at 35 years and 144 days old, eight years after he had produced another shock to win the World title in Paris, is the sort of fairy-story that deserves a more receptive audience.

Monday's headlines won't read 'Blake's Heaven', or 'Collins: Against All Odds'. They'll be 'Bolt Out of the Blue' and 'IN-SAIN', 'Usain Bolts Early' and maybe even 'BLUNDERBOLT'.

Bolt had talked about wanting to win this race so he could truly consider himself a legend of his sport. That he didn't was entirely down to him.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tomfordyce/2011/08/daegu_korea_who_can_beat.html

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London 2012: How are Britain's rivals doing?

Next year may be a home Olympics for the British but Team GB are not the only ones hoping London 2012 will be their greatest Games ever.

The British Olympic Association and UK Sport tell us everything is on track, Britain's athletes are "better-prepared than ever to succeed" and fourth place in the medal table is the least they expect. But GB's rivals are racing to outdo them at every turn.

With one year to go, projected medal tables - where statisticians distil data from major championships to decide how the Games would go were they staged today - are coming out of the woodwork.

Going by the most comprehensive of these virtual tables, the British are no longer the comfortable fourth they finished at Beijing 2008. They are fifth.

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These projected medal tables are curiosities at best and easily misleading.

But they serve as reminders that for every British Olympic hopeful throwing the kitchen sink at a medal, there are a dozen foreign athletes looking to defend titles, right prior Olympic wrongs or make their first mark on the world stage.

The virtual medal table compiled by statistics company Infostrada, and published by The Times, USA Today and The Australian, claims to meticulously sweep all sports and competitions to produce a definitive guide where performances gain or lose importance according to how recently they occurred, where the athlete finished and the prestige of the event.

The conclusion? At the start of July 2011, the United States led with 37 gold medals to second-placed China's 30. Russia are third - as they were at Beijing 2008 - with 25 projected golds based on current performances.

Then it gets interesting. Germany have usurped Britain in fourth with 18 golds to fifth-placed GB's 15. One gold medal further back are France and Japan. Australia, sixth at the last Olympics, languish in eighth with a mere 10 golds.

You can see the full projected table on the USA Today website. If the real London 2012 table ends up remotely like it, I project I'll eat my hat. But it's as good a statistical guide as anyone will get.

So how do some of the nations most likely to rub shoulders with Britain feel with a year left to prepare?

Australia may look like they are lagging behind but, in the words of Sky News Australia's James Bracey, they have just pocketed "the country's biggest sporting result in decades" - Cadel Evans' triumph in cycling's Tour de France. Can that kickstart an Antipodean sprint for the 2012 finish?

"Cadel was the world champion in 2009 and he's now the Tour de France champion. He'll be dead keen to add an Olympic gold medal in the time trial," says Bracey.

"There's a lot of hope for Australia, especially when you throw in Ian Thorpe and Michael Klim coming back in the swimming.

"There's always a hidden challenge between the Aussies and GB, and deep down, the Australian Olympic Committee would love to finish fourth in the medal tally. That's a huge ask - almost ridiculous, per capita, to even ponder it."

The Australians are smarting post-Beijing and working overtime to make good their losses. Forget eighth in the projected medal table: sixth in 2008 was not good enough for Australia or Bracey.

"Beijing was a wake-up call in terms of funding and support in some sports where Australia had slipped away. We see London as real chance to bring the team back.

"Cycling was a massive loss for Australia in 2008. That GB started to pick up the medals added salt to the wound. Swimming too: that's the core of Australian sport but the men really underperformed in Beijing.

"Now there is pride at stake. The men have made pacts among the team heading to Shanghai for this week's World Championships, they want to start getting their pride back in a sport where the girls are bringing home all the bacon.

"There will be a major overall improvement on Beijing for Australia, but you can't lose sight of the competition out there. The Chinese were phenomenal in Beijing; the US, too; and Britain with home-ground advantage. That gave Australia 16 golds in 2000, finishing fourth. You can't emphasise how important that is."

Ian Thorpe

Ian Thorpe hopes to lead Australia's male swimmers to better things in London. Photo: AP

As in Britain, funding for Olympic sports in Australia has increased, with expectations Down Under that Beijing will be consigned to history. In Moscow, BBC Russian Service correspondent Rafael Saakov says the same is happening - not because of Beijing, but Vancouver.

"Here in Russia, people don't see much difference between the summer and winter Olympics," says Saakov.

"In Beijing the result was not too bad [third with 23 gold medals, 13 behind the United States] but Vancouver 2010 was a big failure. Now everybody is waiting for revenge in London. The Russian Olympic Committee wants 25 gold medals in London, and 75 medals in all.

"They say they need to be in the top three and they think the main competition is the US, China and Britain. So every year, the financial support from the government has increased. The ministry of sport says 1,500 sportsmen are now preparing for London."

There has been talk that fourth place is not ambitious enough for a British team whose funding and performance charts are ablaze in green lights. Why not go for third place?

Good luck. Russia, the incumbent, believes a new generation of its sports stars will rapidly halt any talk of losing grip on third.

Says Saakov: "After Beijing, it changed. The team totally changed and not a lot of the people who competed in Beijing will be there in London. We have new talents in the team.

"Yelena Isinbayeva is coming back, she is a huge star and it's about 90% certain that she will win. But there is a big swimming tradition in Russia and a lot of hope with new swimmers there.

"People also expect Aliya Mustafina from artistic gymnastics to do well. She is a newcomer to the Games and 100% a gold-medal competitor. She has made a big impression and is already the world and European champion.

"And in high jump, there are huge difficulties even deciding the Russian team in the men's event. The Olympic champion from Beijing didn't qualify for the national team last week."

That's leaving aside, as most Brits might, Russian ambitions in race walking and rhythmic gymnastics.

If Russia maintain third then Germany, fifth behind Britain in Beijing, may be the likeliest threat to fourth. Step forward Sven Busch, sports editor at German news agency the DPA.

"London 2012 is a very big deal," he says. "I'm sure it's a bigger deal in Britain than it is here, but everybody's talking about it being one year to go."

Germany is sometimes said to be almost a medal-for-medal match for Britain at the summer Olympics. Now, where Britain has UK Sport's backing and various "elite" or "podium" funding categories for each sport, Busch says Germany has established Top-Team 2012, a funding drive to prioritise its medal hopes.

"There are currently 174 athletes in it, and they get preferential treatment. You have to be in that pool to get special funding and their preparation is very good.

"The sports where the Germans should be doing well are athletics - where they are coming on strong - swimming, shooting, rowing, gymnastics, field hockey and equestrian.

"The biggest star of the team is a horse," he adds, referring to a dressage horse named Totilas, an equine superstar "signed" from the Netherlands for an apparent fee well above �10m (I've met him). "That horse is a big deal."

Totilas

Totilas, the new saviour of German Olympic ambitions at London 2012? Photo: Reuters

And yet, fourth place in the medal table doesn't seem to motivate Busch. Where Bracey boasts "there's always a fairytale with Australia" and presents a list of Aussie athletes who are "the tip of the iceberg", and Saakov reels off ranks of Russian rhythmic gymnasts each ready to make third place theirs, Busch almost laughs at the suggestion the medal table matters.

"Well, this is not the answer you want," he says, "but the German officials have always said they would like to defend their top-five finish from Beijing.

"If you look at the number of nations capable of winning medals, it's rising with every Olympics. They are very cautious with medal predictions, and they would be ecstatic if they could match that."

And, even with that approach, the virtual medal table has Germany three precious gold medals ahead. Does that matter now?

Will it matter at the closing ceremony?

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/olliewilliams/2011/07/london_2012_britain_faces_meda.shtml

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